Camp acted the day before the House is expected to fall short of overriding President George W. Bush's veto of a more costly proposal.

Bush, anticipating that his veto of a $35 billion spending increase for children's insurance will stand, assigned three top advisers to try to negotiate a new deal with Congress.

A prepared statement said Camp's proposal:

* increases state allotments by $14 billion over the next five years, allowing 1.3 million new low-income children to be covered;

* limits new enrollees to 200 percent of poverty, consistent with the original 1997 children's health insurance program; and

* bars illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer benefits.

The Camp bill has five co-sponsors. It reportedly mirrors a proposal by Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Trent Lott.

Camp is the top-ranking Republican member of the health subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee.

"We have been needlessly stalemated for weeks on an issue we all agree on: We have an obligation to provide America's low-income children with health care coverage," Camp's prepared statement said. "This bill reauthorizes the children's health insurance program, is fully funded without raising taxes and targets our resources to those most in need: low-income children. Before Congress' poll numbers drop any lower, I urge the majority to move this bill, protect these children, and then we can begin the larger debate on how to help all Americans afford health insurance. These children have been political pawns long enough. Let's do our job and cover these kids."

Camp's office reported that under his proposal, states that now have a waiver to cover childless adults could continue to do so until their waiver expired. The federal government, however, would immediately reduce state payments to the current Medicaid matching rate, which is less than the enhanced State Childrens Health Insurance Program rate. The bill prohibits states from adding adults to the children's program in the future.

Also, Camp's office said that:

* instead of relying on tobacco taxes, the program would be paid for by limiting the Medicaid matching rate for state administrative expenses to 50 percent, and

* his bill - H.R. 3864 - prohibits states from collecting double payments of Medicaid administrative costs for services also provided in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Through the program known as SCHIP, the government and the states subsidize the cost of health coverage for families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance.

Bush recommended a $5 billion increase, bringing total spending over five years to $30 billion - half the level called for in the bill that he vetoed.

The president has said the measure Congress passed encourages families with higher incomes to drop private coverage.

Dozens of advocacy groups have endorsed the bill, which would increase enrollment from about 6.6 million now to about 10 million by 2012.